So-called “ventless fireplaces,” i.e., fireplaces which burn gel or liquid fuel, exist in a variety of forms. Such fireplaces typically have several advantages over various more-traditional fireplaces in that ventless fireplaces cleanly burn their fuel, are often portable, and may not require installation. Typically, it is advantageous for a ventless fireplace to include some sort of shutter mechanism to control the flame. Shutter mechanisms are often controlled through the use of a handle, and this allows the user both to control the flame and to safely extinguish the flame when desired.
Shutter mechanisms for indoor-outdoor fireplaces of the prior art typically have certain disadvantages. Shutters are often located near the combustion chamber and the user must slide a handle across a lid or top wall to close the shutter, a step which often requires the user to place his or her hand close to the open flame. This is a dangerous practice. One example of such a prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,287,979 (Backes et al.).
For fairly large indoor-outdoor fireplaces, it is desirable to have a visually-large flame—or at least to have a horizontal flame region which has both a substantial width dimension (i.e., across the front of the fireplace) and a substantial depth dimension (i.e., from the front toward the back of the fireplace). With substantial horizontal dimensions, moving a shutter to control the flame region—i.e., to turn it on and off and to adjust the amount of flame—requires a substantial shutter stroke, and this in turn imposes a number of problems for the shutter-control handle.
It would be desirable to have an indoor-outdoor gel or liquid fuel fireplace apparatus that provides excellent shutter control for large two-dimensional flame region without a commensurately large shutter stroke. It would also be desirable to provide such advantage in a indoor-outdoor fireplace that keeps the shutter-control handle reasonably close to the body of the fireplace apparatus, but without the user having to place his or her hand too close to the flame region. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have an improved indoor-outdoor fireplace apparatus which allows easy short-stroke shutter operation to control a visually-large flame area while avoiding any problems related to jamming of the shutter apparatus.
This invention overcomes certain problems and shortcomings in the prior art, including those mentioned above and others, and provides advantages for indoor/outdoor fireplaces not previously provided.